Non-mated goose laying eggs

[The goose girl]

I understand your concern. I too have worried about "pressuring" the goose to lay a larger clutch by taking the eggs. I keep imagining her going to the nest thinking "I must be losing my mind - I could have sworn I've laid a ton here already".

If you want to emulate a more natural laying situation, you can leave fake eggs for her in the nest. Golf balls make fine egg substitutes, or you can blow out some of her own eggs and fill them with caulk or plaster. They'll be heavier than real eggs, but my geese have accepted them.

Just make sure the filling has set before placing them in the nest. I was impatient with a couple of caulk-filled eggs once because this type took many days to set. A magpie broke one in the nest (gooey caulk everywhere) and flew off with another (poor magpie with a sticky beak).

 

[carmentk]

I understand your concern. I too have worried about "pressuring" the goose to lay a larger clutch by taking the eggs. I keep imagining her going to the nest thinking "I must be losing my mind - I could have sworn I've laid a ton here already".

If you want to emulate a more natural laying situation, you can leave fake eggs for her in the nest. Golf balls make fine egg substitutes, or you can blow out some of her own eggs and fill them with caulk or plaster. They'll be heavier than real eggs, but my geese have accepted them.

Just make sure the filling has set before placing them in the nest. I was impatient with a couple of caulk-filled eggs once because this type took many days to set. A magpie broke one in the nest (gooey caulk everywhere) and flew off with another (poor magpie with a sticky beak).

Thanks. Do you let her go through the whole setting time? Or do you take up the "eggs" after a few days to break her broodiness? (Ha! Magpies got what they deserved.)

 

[Percheron chick]

No guarantee that your goose will go broody. Out of my 10 girls only 2 sat last year and so far this year, only 1 has. Gather the eggs every day just as you would for chickens. Do some baking, make some fresh pasta. She won't lay more or less because you take the eggs away. She's going to lay what her body and brain tells her to.

 

[carmentk]

No guarantee that your goose will go broody. Out of my 10 girls only 2 sat last year and so far this year, only 1 has. Gather the eggs every day just as you would for chickens. Do some baking, make some fresh pasta. She won't lay more or less because you take the eggs away. She's going to lay what her body and brain tells her to.

OK, thanks.

 

[The goose girl]

Thanks. Do you let her go through the whole setting time? Or do you take up the "eggs" after a few days to break her broodiness? (Ha! Magpies got what they deserved.)

My goose would lay around 50 eggs each spring over a period of about 3 1/2 months. Most years I took every egg she laid and just left one or two fake eggs in her nest - to encourage her to keep this nest and not consider it unsafe and build in another place. She would go broody around late June. I would let her sit for about a week, just to make sure she "got it out of her system". Then I'd remove the eggs (while she was out on her daily 10-minute break), and when she got back, she would look for the eggs for 15-20 minutes, go out again and maybe come back once more to look for the eggs. Then she was done.

When I wanted her to have goslings, I tried to get her to go broody earlier by leaving more fake eggs in her nest in early May. I had tried the year before with no luck, and by the time she finally decided to sit, there were no day-old goslings to be found. In 2018, she kept laying for another five weeks before going broody. But she did go broody two or three weeks before she normally would and only laid 33 eggs that year, so the extra fake eggs did work. I got her two supercute day-old goslings after two weeks, and she turned out to be the greatest goose mom ever.

I'm crying while writing this. I lost her just three weeks ago. I miss her terribly, but I'm happy to share everything I learned from her. She gave me so much joy.

 

[carmentk]

My goose would lay around 50 eggs each spring over a period of about 3 1/2 months. Most years I took every egg she laid and just left one or two fake eggs in her nest - to encourage her to keep this nest and not consider it unsafe and build in another place. She would go broody around late June. I would let her sit for about a week, just to make sure she "got it out of her system". Then I'd remove the eggs (while she was out on her daily 10-minute break), and when she got back, she would look for the eggs for 15-20 minutes, go out again and maybe come back once more to look for the eggs. Then she was done.

When I wanted her to have goslings, I tried to get her to go broody earlier by leaving more fake eggs in her nest in early May. I had tried the year before with no luck, and by the time she finally decided to sit, there were no day-old goslings to be found. In 2018, she kept laying for another five weeks before going broody. But she did go broody two or three weeks before she normally would and only laid 33 eggs that year, so the extra fake eggs did work. I got her two supercute day-old goslings after two weeks, and she turned out to be the greatest goose mom ever.

I'm crying while writing this. I lost her just three weeks ago. I miss her terribly, but I'm happy to share everything I learned from her. She gave me so much joy.

So sorry! What a special mama. Thanks so much for relating your experience and confirming my ideas. I guess they have their own ideas about when or when not to go broody. Unlike my silkies who go broody on one egg.